Taiwan president pushes for arms deal

Published: Saturday, April 01, 2000

TAIPEI, Taiwan {AP} Taiwan's newly elected president on Friday defended a plan to push for a U.S. weapons deal that would likely raise tensions with rival China, saying the arms were essential for preserving peace.

Since his election two weeks ago, Chen Shui-bian has tried not to rile Beijing. But the former Taipei mayor was not ready to placate Chinese leaders by suggesting that Washington postpone an annual decision expected later this month about selling weaponry to Taiwan.

"The weapons are needed for Taiwan's security and peace," Chen said. "They are not for war, but for peace."

China fiercely protests arms sales between Taiwan and the United States, one of the only nations willing to risk Beijing's ire by selling the island defensive weapons.

China and Taiwan split when the communists took over the mainland in 1949, and reunifying the two sides is still Beijing's sacred goal. China has threatened to attack Taiwan if it tries to break away permanently or indefinitely rebuffs reunification talks.

During the presidential campaign, China's leaders made it clear that Chen, 49, was their least favorite candidate. Beijing distrusts the former Taipei mayor because he was once a supporter of Taiwan independence.

Since his upset victory, Chen has expressed his goodwill by offering to travel to China and discuss any topic, and he has invited Chinese leaders to visit Taiwan. In recent months, he has also softened his position on independence, saying Taiwanese should only vote on the issue if China attacks.

"Time will prove that the government under my direction will be prudent, responsible, rational, pragmatic and flexible," Chen said in his spare, tidy office decorated with framed international magazine articles of his political successes. "We aren't just seeking lasting peace. We also want to have talks."

Many believe that in the coming months, Chen might make new goodwill gestures that would help restart talks with China. Some have speculated he might call for a one-year moratorium on arms purchases from America. Others have said he might send a high-profile delegation of lobbyists to Washington to help China push for permanent normal trade relations with the United States.

Chen said he has no plans to do either. But he said that he hoped that U.S.-China trade relations would improve because that would further open up the mainland and help its leaders become more liberal on political issues.